


i'm so lost in you

by masc_devil



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Fluff, Light angst but it's quickly resolved, M/M, Mermaid!Rhys, Rhys gets spoiled, mermaid!au, soft as hell
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-01-29 06:49:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21405964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masc_devil/pseuds/masc_devil
Summary: mermaid!rhack, CEO Jack takes a trip to one of his beaches and finds a new creature, but this one he’s not going to take to R&D.
Relationships: (IMPLIED), Handsome Jack/Rhys (Borderlands), Timothy Lawrence/Wilhelm
Comments: 32
Kudos: 148





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [championofdogs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/championofdogs/gifts).

> thanks to @championofsin on twitter for reigniting my love for mermaid au. 
> 
> hope y'all enjoy!

It took Jack a few minutes at first. He was lounging on the beach in a sunchair, Wilhelm and Timothy nowhere to be seen – he guessed they were fucking, but would Timothy have the balls to initiate it? Jack sincerely doubted that. He gave one cursory glance to the ocean in front of him, before closing his eyes, relaxing. Well, he _tried_ to relax, but something felt… off. The crash of the waves didn’t sound right to his ears. At first, he thought it was just a little niggling in the back of his head that something was wrong at Hyperion, and so tried to ignore it. That soon failed, and he glared at the blue water.

That was where he saw someone drowning. Cursing, Jack rose to his feet and sprinted over, hoping he wouldn’t be too late – he didn’t want to have to fill in more paperwork for a death on his beach. He also wanted to know how this person had even gotten there – it was a private section of the beach, reserved for him and his guests. A mop of soaking wet brown hair was spread out on the sand, and bubbling could be heard as Jack got closer. Thankfully, Wilhelm, Nisha, and Timothy had come back, and rushed over while Jack was attempting to tug on the arm that was laying limp. Wilhelm nudged him out of the way, taking only a second to completely haul the body out of the water.

Only that it wasn’t a body. Jack _thought_ it was a half-eaten body, and the fish was just clinging onto the torso of a cute boy. It wasn’t until Wilhelm moved his arm that Jack saw the scales were attached to the torso, fading into the pale skin.

“What the fuck..?” Nisha was the first to break the silence, lifting her hat up to get a better view. Jack was stunned into silence as Wilhelm laid the body down, but this time face up; what a face it was. It almost made Jack forget about the horrific pattern of the tail – it was turquoise with yellow stripes, like an oversized ugly sock. Though it was still amazing, seeing the scales fade into the skin, even if they weren’t the prettiest.

“A mermaid?” Timothy suggested, crouching down to attempt to touch the being, only to be stopped by Wilhelm.

“It might attack.” Was all the man said, to which Timothy scrambled back, falling over on the sand in the process. Jack just stared at the mermaid, until he saw the eyes begin to open, blinking a few times. They were heterochromatic, just like his own – gold and brown, instead of green and blue. The mermaid stared at them all for few seconds, before letting out a cry, tail flapping against the sand. It was like a child’s tantrum, really – until Jack realised that the mermaid probably was dying from the lack of water, and quickly began to splash it. Nisha grabbed a towel from where they’d been sitting, soaking it in the water before laying it over the scales to keep them damp. Once the mermaid stopped letting out the shriek, Jack crouched down beside it – him?

“Do you think it can talk?” He asked the three beside him, only to receive three shrugs, and a curious stare from the creature on the sand, who reached out to him using his only hand – how had they not realised that this mermaid only had one arm? – trying to feel his mask. The wound looked fresh, and it worried Jack; they couldn’t let this little creature go back into the ocean, not like this.

“We’re taking him back to the house.” Wilhelm and Timothy looked at Jack like he’d grown two heads, while Nisha just seemed to accept it, already beginning to head back to gather up their stuff. “Hurry up or he’ll dry out and die.” That seemed to snap them into action, Wilhelm lifting up the boy once again, this time with the towel wrapped around the scales. Tim went to help Nisha gather their belongings, while Jack sprinted off to unlock the door and start a cool bath for the creature.

Around an hour later, Jack was sat on a chair in the basement, staring at the mermaid in his pool. It turned out that the mermaid didn’t like the bath, swishing its tail in discontent and soaking the entire bathroom, as well as the four people in it. However, that had made the mermaid giggle, and well, Jack just couldn’t get mad.

“Hey! Hey, come here a sec.” He yelled, nearing the pool edge and crouching down beside it, waiting for the mermaid to swim over – which thankfully he did, but not after an angry pout. The creature seemed to understand what they said, with the help of a few gestures. It didn’t want to talk yet, or maybe it couldn’t, Jack wasn’t sure. What he had heard was giggling and clicking sounds, they were cute enough to make up for the lack of words.

But Jack couldn’t stop the itch of wanting to hear the voice, and now he was going to try get the mermaid to speak.

“Do you have a name?” The mermaid looked at him blankly.

“I’m Jack.” Another blank stare.

“Are you hungry?” Nothing.

With a frustrated groan, Jack stood, leaving the creature alone. Tim and Wilhelm went in after, Tim sitting on the edge of the pool with his feet in with Wilhelm stood behind him ready to rescue at any second, while Jack eavesdropped.

“What’s your name? I’m Timothy. This is Wil.” The mermaid let out a click of acknowledgement, swimming in circles in front of the pair, before moving to the edge beside Timothy’s legs.

“Rhys..” The s was slurred, but Jack heard it clear as day – the mermaid’s name was Rhys.

And he’d been fucking with Jack.


	2. Chapter 2

It took Jack a few days to formulate a plan, one cleverly titled 'Get Rhys To Talk To Me'. Nisha scoffed at the name, but she wasn't the one who was singled out and ignored by a mythical creature. The plan involved Tim walking in with his mask, then leaving, to be quickly replaced with Jack. Surely that could fool the mermaid. 

The plan went into action that day - Tim walked in with the mask, and sat at the edge of the pool with Wilhelm by his side. Rhys came closer after a few moments of hesitation, sniffing around Tim, before letting out a little click. He kept sneaking glances to the mask as he swam in circles around the pool, occasionally stopping to play with the small bath toys that Jack had given him - like a little whale that spat out water and would swim along when pushed - since he’d tried to eat the pool noodle. 

“Jack’s not coming home from work tonight…” The second step was set into action - just a white little lie said by Timmy to assure Rhys that his evidently least favourite person - despite being his  _ hero,  _ Jack thought bitterly - wasn’t going to be in, and so they were really just luring the mermaid into a false sense of security. Yet, when Jack watched Rhys’ reaction, it didn’t seem as though he felt very secure. 

“Why?” He asked, a small pout on his face as he shook the water out of his hair, moving over to Wilhelm and making the ‘up’ motion he’d been taught. With a groan, the older man shook his head, making Rhys’ pout worse, and as the mermaid threatened to splash water at them, Timothy stood up, telling the pair he’d be back in a minute, then left. A few minutes later, Jack walked in, trying his best to mimic how Tim walked. He could see Rhys staring at him, possibly and probably scrutinizing his every movement, but he pushed that to the back of his head as he sat down. 

“I’m back.” He said, trying not to crack his signature smile, instead hoping to go for a more humble look. To make it more believable, he gave Wilhelm a small kiss on the cheek, feeling the daggers being sent at him from his hiding spot. Rhys took one, two, three sniffs, then went silent, swimming around, seemingly more interested in his little whale than the pair sat at the edge. 

“Rhys, what do you want to eat?” Wilhelm asked, his voice soft, like it was when he talked to Tim. He received no reply, just a stare. 

“Rhys?” Nothing. Jack groaned, letting out a sigh. He waved Wilhelm away, putting his face in his hands. “Just go, Wilhelm, Tim. Just go.” Wilhelm went to argue, but Jack held a hand up to silence him, and so they left. Jack took off his mask, still holding his head in his hands as he tried not to yell at Rhys when the mermaid swam closer. 

“No Rhysie, not now.” He tried to keep his voice even, shielding his scar away from Rhys’ vision, but the mermaid was persistent, pressing himself between Jack's legs and staring up. Jack, feeling pressured, did a very stupid thing. He slapped Rhys, kicking the mermaid away and watching as he flailed, losing his buoyancy in the water as his only arm wobbled. The panicked, hurt look on Rhys' face made Jack realise what he'd just done, as did Timothy yelling at him. 

"What the fuck, Jack?!" The double hissed, quickly running to the side of the pool to survey the damage done to Rhys. There wasn't any physical damage luckily apart from a red cheek, but Tim could tell Rhys was hurt. Jack stood up, looking remorseful for possibly the first time in his life, before he stormed out. Tim cooed at Rhys, trying to get the mermaid to come closer, but Rhys continued to cower at the bottom of the pool, refusing to look up. He was down too deep for Tim to try reach for him, so the double gave up, instead leaving to try find Jack, only to find the man grabbing a drink of whiskey - by the looks of it, not his first one - with white knuckles gripping the counter.

"Tim, I swear to god, if you don't leave in the next 10 seconds.." He warned, his voice full of venom. Tim scoffed, glaring at Jack before leaving, making sure he slammed the door. Jack was too busy downing the glass to notice Tim's burning disapproval, quickly pouring out another, and another. 

Five hours later, two bottles had been finished, and Jack was laying on his sofa drunk, thoughts bouncing around in his head. Maybe he should sell Rhys to one of his underlings - they could possibly take better care of him, maybe it would work as an incentive to work harder. Maybe he should put Rhys on display somewhere, let the kids of Hyperion feed him. Maybe he should just take Rhys back to the planet where he found the mermaid. Suddenly, he remembered blearily that Rhys hadn't eaten yet, and so with a groan, stumbled his way into the kitchen to find some food for the mermaid. Bread? No, Jack thought, that would be too dry. Maybe fish? He looked through his freezer, finding a breaded bit of fish, probably months old. His drunken brain didn't see anything wrong with it, and so off he went to the pool room. 

Rhys was still at the bottom of the pool, miserable. Normally someone would put him in his little inflatable pool, in front of Jack's massive TV. He liked watching the colours fly by. Of course, no one had done that for him today, and he wasn't sure he trusted anyone to touch him at the moment. His ears perked up when he heard uneven footsteps, and Jack humming. 

"Rhyyysie! I've got some food for you." Jack slurred, moving far too close to the edge of the pool. Rhys watched, unsure what was up with Jack - he seemed to be acting weird, but Rhys wasn't sure why. He looked at Jack's hand, seeing the weird round thing, watching it wearily. Jack saw the mermaid looking at it, mistaking his fear as hunger, and so lobbed it at the pool, watching as it hurtled towards Rhys, the water resistance luckily slowing it down to a much less painful impact. Rhys stared at it confused, and slightly disgusted. It didn't look nice, or smell very good either. And it was ice cold. 

Jack frowned, crouching down to try see Rhys better with beer goggle vision. 

"Why aren't you eating it? You still pissed about earlier? I know, I know, Jack's such a monster… with his scar, and his temper, but you don't understand kiddo. This scar.." Jack wasn't able to finish his drunken rambling, as he fell forward into the pool. 

He felt ice cold, seeing black, and suddenly it clicked - no one had turned on the heaters for Rhys either, nor had they turned on the lights. As he watched oxygen escape him in bubbles, he felt overwhelming guilt. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an I OOP
> 
> come interact with me on twitter! @mascdevil


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys' spoiling begins.

Jack didn't really remember much, if he was being completely honest. He remembered falling and guilt, remembered Rhys' hurt face. He had a headache, he knew that much, and felt like his clothes were too heavy on him. He also had to cough. A quick pat down himself found that his clothes were soaked to hell - by clothes, he meant an awful replica of Tim's outfit of the day. His mask had been taken off of his face again, laid beside him, while a familiar face hovered above his own. Jack couldn't quite place it, the messy loose curls looking blurry through his vision, annoyingly dropping water on his face, which he swatted away with another groan. The face disappeared for a moment as he heard a splash, only to return an unknown amount of time later, promptly dropping something soggy and cold on his face. It reeked of an awful gone-off fish smell, as well as stale bread. 

"What the fuck is that?" Jack grumbled, receiving an angry trill in response. So Rhys was the face, presumably. Sitting up, Jack blearily watched the mermaid swim, but when Rhys saw him staring, he hid under the water, making Jack's heart pang. He knew he had to fix this, sooner rather than later. 

"Rhysie.. come here." A shake of the head, and Rhys bares his teeth. 

"Please?" Another shake, but Rhys' teeth go away. 

"I won't hurt you, I promise. I'm really sorry." He now gets a bite of the lip, and he can see the internal battle in Rhys' head. Jack stands up, stripping out of his soaking clothes until he's in his boxers, and then leaves for a second. When he comes back, he has a little trinket in his hand - a little Claptrap toy, but in gold. Rhys' eyes immediately flick to it, staring at it curiously. When Jack sits down and holds it out, Rhys can't help but swim over to it, grabbing it. Jack lifts him up, sitting Rhys between his thighs, making the mermaid let out another angry trill, but Jack soothes it away by stroking Rhys' hair, letting him investigate the Claptrap toy. Jack doesn't even take it away when Rhys tries to put it in his mouth. 

"I'm really sorry, Rhys. I shouldn't have hit you," Rhys nods in response and Jack can't help but smile at this cute little mermaid, "but I'm really sorry. I'm sorry babe. I just.. I don't really let people see me without my mask. I should've known a curious little guy like you would want to investigate." Rhys nods again, still focused on his Claptrap toy, but he does peek at Jack's face. "I also want to know why you won't talk to me, buddy." 

Rhys still doesn't respond, but he lets out a happy click when he figures out the Claptrap can move across the pool tile on his wheel. He's never seen such a thing before, and he's amazed by it. Jack sighed, continuing to stroke his hand through Rhys' hair, the other arm wrapped around the mermaid's waist. He lets go a few minutes later, helping Rhys back in the pool, but the mermaid doesn't seem to want to stay, letting his Claptrap drop to the floor of the pool. He makes the 'up' motion, confusing Jack. 

"What..?" Rhys makes the motion again, seemingly less patient this time. "You want to get out?" Jack internally groans as Rhys nods his head, knowing that he's going to put his back out trying to lift Rhys.

"I'll call Wilhelm over, then." Rhys doesn't like the sound of that, a pout making its way onto his face, and when Jack goes to grab his mask, Rhys shrieks. While Jack is stunned, Rhys grabs the mask, chucking it in the middle of the pool. Jack wouldn't be able to get it without getting in the pool, and Rhys feels pretty confident that Jack won't do that. 

"Okay, guess no Wilhelm then. Can you give me my mask back?" Jack is careful with his tone - he doesn't need to hurt or upset Rhys again. Rhys shakes his head, making the 'up' motion again, and Jack just groans and gives in, crouching down and grinning when Rhys lets out happy trills, swimming over with excitement buzzing through him. Jack carefully lifts him out of the pool, groaning at the weight, making Rhys giggle. "I think someone deserves a warm bath, don't you think?" He says, earning a shake of the head. Jack's not really sure what to do with Rhys, if he doesn't want a bath, and so raises an eyebrow at the mermaid. He half hopes Rhys will talk, but doubts it. 

He's proven right in his doubt when all he gets is furious pointing at the living room, and Jack shakes his head. "Little shit, of course you want the TV." Rhys giggles again as he's set down gently on the kitchen counter with the bottom of his tail in the sink, while Jack sorts out his little inflatable pool. He's always told not to put anything in his mouth in the kitchen, but when he sees a little wooden thing, he can't help but try reach for it. He wants it. Jack sadly interrupts him before he gets his goal. 

"You're probably hungry, aren't you?" Jack says, receiving a nod in response. He wonders if Rhys is a fussy eater, as he decides that he'll try to give Rhys a normal meal. Spaghetti and meatballs seem to be the easiest option, but he lets Rhys have a snack first. The mermaid seems to like sweet things, and he caught Tim feeding him chocolate the other day. 

Once Rhys is settled in front of the TV, Jack gives him the chocolate, and goes to make dinner. He returns twenty minutes later, two bowls in hand, and he tries to show Rhys how to eat using a fork. It was a mission doomed from the start, and he decides to just let the mermaid use his hands. He's just glad that Rhys likes it. 

Jack decides to leave the washing up, choosing to spend time with Rhys instead. He brings the pool closer, and he pets Rhys' hair again, cringing slightly when his fingers find a bit of spaghetti in the locks. He's definitely giving Rhys a bath before he's allowed back in the big pool, but for now, he'll let Rhys rest. He deserves it. 

Jack isn't sure when he falls asleep, but he does, his hand still in Rhys' hair. Rhys sleeps too, leaning against Jack's legs, and wakes up before the man. He sees a weird lump in Jack's boxers, staring at it for a while, his face shifting closer. A small sniff has Rhys even more confused - it smells like Jack, but salty and musky. 

When Tim and Wilhelm walk in through the front door, Rhys jerks away, pretending to be asleep again. He hears the men enter the room, still idly gossiping about something, then hears Tim's little cooing noises at him. Jack wakes up, stretching beneath Rhys, letting out a grumble when he sees the pair.

"I see you two made up." Wilhelm comments, and Jack nods, looking down at Rhys and stroking through his now dry hair. "And ate dinner. Didn't realise mermaids liked spaghetti." Jack chuckled as Wilhelm pointed at the mess on Rhys' face, deciding now is as good a time as any to give Rhys a bath. Wilhelm helps carry the mermaid, and Rhys opens his eyes during the journey, staring at Jack over Wilhelm's shoulder. Jack smiles at him, waving. When he's put down in the bath, he's left in the bathroom with just Jack, who quickly fills up the tub with warm water, grabbing the non-toxic kids shampoo and body wash that he'd bought days before. That weird lump is still in Jack's boxers, and Rhys stares at it while Jack is distracted by lathering up his hair. 

"So are there more of you out there?" Jack asks as he rinses out the suds, grateful to see the muck being washed out. Rhys shakes his head, tearing his eyes away from Jack's crotch to look up at his face instead as Jack gently tilts his head back. "Huh. Wonder where you came from then." Jack sounds even more intrigued, and Rhys wishes he could answer the man's question, but Rhys doesn't know where he came from either. 

Jack hummed as he washed Rhys' mouth with a cloth gently, before he's interrupted by Rhys trying to bite the cloth, thinking Jack's trying to feed him it. Jack can't help but laugh, ruffling Rhys' hair and shaking his head fondly. 

"You don't eat this, Rhysie. Lemme just clean you up." He murmurs, continuing when Rhys closes his mouth. He washes Rhys' body too, pleased by Rhys' little trills, unable to stop himself from grinning. 

He's not going to be able to leave Rhys again. The mermaid is just too cute, too entertaining. Jack can't be stressed with him around, and he just wants to spoil and play with Rhys, keep the mermaid making his cute little noises. 

Jack decides he's never going to leave Rhys' side. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do y'all forgive me for the last chapter, next chapter is going to be Soft as hell 
> 
> watch out for a lil side fic about Rhys' first day at the office!
> 
> find me on twitter: @mascdevil


	4. Chapter 4

Rhys seemed to enjoy spending time with Jack now. It was weird not to find him in the living room, in his little plastic pool, sitting between Jack’s legs watching some TV programme. Jack had started off watching nature documentaries even though they bored the absolute hell out of him, thinking that maybe Rhys would like to see the familiar sights of the ocean. That was proven wrong when Rhys began screeching at the sight of the shark on TV. 

Coffee had been spilled that day. 

It turned out that Rhys didn’t really care what was on - unless it was a shark, evidently - he just liked being around everyone, and he liked the background noises and colours. Jack also guessed he loved being spoiled by him and Tim, who snuck the mermaid chocolate every five minutes if Jack didn’t keep an eye on them. Jack wasn’t even sure if mermaids  _ could _ eat chocolate, but Rhys hadn’t had any severe reaction or died, so Jack could let  _ some _ slide. Not three whole big bars in ten minutes. Tim just pouted when he was told off, so then Rhys pouted too at having his favourite snack taken away, and Jack.. Jack really had to push himself to oppose such a cute thing. 

Rhys was allowed one bar a day,  _ as a treat _ . 

There were also times when Jack would let Rhys come to work with him, when he didn’t have any meetings. He sat Rhys in his pool, putting it on a wagon, dragging it up to his office and sitting it next to his desk. Jack was definitely going to be ripped at the end of the month, with how much a mermaid actually weighed - it must just all be in the tail, he supposed. It was hard to get work done with Rhys in the office though, since Jack wanted to pay attention to him at all times. Not only that, but Rhys also tried to eat every single bit of stationery Jack had on his desk. Which was cute for a while, until Jack had to sign paperwork, and it turned out Rhys didn't like things being taken out of his mouth (Jack tried not to think about that in  _ other _ situations). It was worse with the shiny metal pens, Rhys absolutely refusing to give them up. Soon enough, Rhys expected to go to work with Jack every day, seemingly excited for it, screaming when Jack told him he couldn't. He'd had water splashed at him, he'd been bitten, no matter how many times he explained to Rhys that he couldn't be there for meetings. So, he’d given in, and here they were, sat in a meeting with different department presidents and vice presidents, and Rhys, just like Jack had predicted, was terrified out of his mind. He didn’t want to say ‘ _ I told you so _ ’, but he totally had. 

At first, Rhys had been amazed by all the people, and their suits that were so unlike Jack’s own clothes. That was until everyone started laughing at his tail, and he’d curled into himself. Jack didn’t want to airlock anyone in front of Rhys, but they deserved it for making his mermaid feel like shit. He was gonna take down names, and punish later. For now, he just ran his fingers through Rhys’ hair, hoping to soothe him. When Jack stops petting him, he butts his head back into the man’s palm, but Jack just pets him once, twice, then stops again. It’s not good enough, and he hopes his pout clearly shows it. 

Though when some stranger reaches towards him, he thinks maybe he should’ve kept his face neutral. The man tugs him to the other side of the pool while Jack’s distracted with yelling at another peon, his sleazy smile doing nothing to ease Rhys’ worries. He ruffles Rhys' hair in a way that isn't overly kind, before pulling his mouth open to stare at the pointed teeth, using his pinky to poke at them, testing the sharpness. Rhys tolerates it for a few seconds, until the pinky reaches back to pet his tongue, and he bites down on it. It's not until he feels the hand pull away that he realises he  _ bit the whole fucking pinky off _ . Disgusted, he hurried to spit it out, spitting out the taste of copper in his mouth too. He never really liked the taste of blood, especially not this dude's. Jack is kneeling by him in an instant, cradling him close and pulling out a cloth to wipe away the blood and spittle on his lips, something in his eyes that Rhys isn't sure whether to be worried about - he’s too distracted by everything happening around him to even consider eating the cloth. He's vaguely aware of screaming, presuming it must be the guy who touched him, but he's too distracted by the way Jack's shoulders are moving up and down. He's scared Jack's about to cry, like he'd seen on the TV, or even yell at him, but he's left confused when he hears the laughter escaping from him. Rhys makes a questioning noise without even realising it.

"Holy shit, pumpkin!" Jack manages out through his laughs. "Wallethead has had that coming for a loooong time." He turns back towards whoever must be Wallethead, Rhys guesses, handing over the detached pinky. “Might wanna hurry to the medics. Who knows what mermaid spit is capable of? You could already be poisoned.” As the man runs off at full speed, Jack’s laughter becomes louder, and he’s physically shaking from the force of it as he holds Rhys close. Once Jack’s laughter abruptly stopped, the people around them left, fear evident in their features as they scarpered out, not one daring to meet Jack’s eyes, nor Rhys’. 

Seemingly satisfied with today’s work, Jack stood, wheeling Rhys towards the elevator penthouse, watching as the mermaid gave one last longing look at Elpis, waving at the moon and melting Jack’s heart right there and then. He knew that Rhys would be able to see it out of a penthouse window, but when they were in the penthouse, Rhys paid no attention to the windows, much more fascinated with everything inside. Especially that stupid Claptrap toy Jack gave him before. Whenever they left the penthouse, Rhys would leave him by the door, and when they returned, he would instantly grab the toy, putting it in his pool. Today, however, was different. The Claptrap toy had been moved, no longer sat by the door. Jack was silently thankful to whatever deity had gotten rid of the dreaded toy, but it also alarmed him - until he noticed it was squeaky clean on the draining board.  _ Tim.  _ Tim had cleaned it, along with the whole apartment - Jack would have to thank him, but it seemed Rhys was less grateful, letting out a shrill cry. Tim practically ran in from the living room, panic on his face, as both he and Jack tried to console the mermaid. 

"Traitors! Traitors! You ruined him!" He was yelling, smacking at Tim, before Jack put a quick stop to that, taking his wrist. 

"We do not hit, Rhys!" He scolded, but Tim didn't seem fazed, instead continuing to shush and pet Rhys, who's shrieking had calmed down into angry clicks, although he was still glaring and scowling. "What on earth has gotten into you?" Jack had a stern tone, making Rhys cower slightly, before pointing at the Claptrap on the side. Confused, Jack reached for it, trying to hand it to Rhys but watching as the mermaid pointed more and more furiously at the antenna - or rather, where an antenna should be. Jack inwardly cursed, staring at Tim as if to say 'what the fuck is happening', hoping to see Tim in a similar state, but instead saw a guilty expression on his double's face.

What the fuck was happening? Was a whole  _ thing _ really happening over a tiny Claptrap antenna? A sniffle from Tim told him evidently so. 

Jack groaned as he took the Claptrap upstairs, grumbling that he was gonna fix it, leaving Tim to wheel Rhys through to the living room. When he came back down, this time dressed in sweatpants with no shirt, Tim and Rhys had at least 5 chocolate bar wrappers surrounding them, cuddled together while eating another. Jack was grateful that he got boxes upon boxes of chocolate for free from creepy fans so at least they weren't devouring his bank account - ha, as if that were ever possible. 

Handing over the 'fixed' Claptrap toy (really, he'd just gotten another one from the closet, he wasn't going to waste his precious time with Rhys just to fix a stupid antenna), he finally got a smile from Rhys, chocolate staining his mouth and cheeks - how the fuck this mermaid got so messy, Jack didn't know, but he wasn't complaining. It made Jack smile. Tim let him take his place behind Rhys, watching as the mermaid immediately perked up and tried to push himself into Jack's arms and lap as soon as he'd sat down. 

"Where's Wilhelm?" Jack asked as he cuddled with Rhys, pressing a soft kiss on top of his head, turning the TV on before he got impatient and started making angry noises again. Rhys responded with happy little clicks, waving the Claptrap toy excitedly at all the colours on the screen, tail flicking slightly in the water. Luckily the splashing kept inside of the pool, and not on Jack's expensive carpet. 

"He's uh.. planning something, I think. Told me to wait here. I don't know.." Tim blushed slightly, growing redder as Jack cackled beside him. He had half a mind to retort, saying at least he didn't have a crush on a mermaid, but he wasn't entirely certain that Jack wouldn't kill him for doing such a thing. He hoped he wouldn't, but.. Jack could be unpredictable. "How was his day, y'know.. with the meetings?" Attempting to change the subject, Tim turned the attention back on Rhys, who looked bashful at his actions, while Jack's cackles came back full force. Tim listened in amusement and horror as he was told of Rhys' ' _ achievement _ ', knowing Vasquez deserved some comeuppance for being a massive douche, but also.. the whole pinky, gone? Though, it seemed pretty small compared to Rhys' whole arm missing. 

After Tim had been dragged off by Wilhelm (with loud wolf whistles echoing through the penthouse as they left), Jack watched as Rhys' eyes struggled to keep open, the mermaid curling into his warmth. Jack was grateful his couch was comfortable, knowing he'd be spending another night sleeping on it, but it was worth it to fall asleep holding his Rhysie. It didn't take either of them long to nod off, Rhys' breathing lulling Jack to sleep. 

As he slept, Jack was taunted by his dreams. It started off with Rhys, sitting on the sofa opposite him, his feet in Jack's lap while Jack stroked the smooth legs, squeezing every so often. It changed into them laying in Jack's bed, legs tangled together, Rhys giggling beside him as they cuddled under the covers. Rhys kneeling in front of him, toying with the belt of his pants. Rhys spreading his legs invitingly for Jack to fit between. The last one was the worst, him holding Rhys' soft thighs apart, fingers holding on hard enough to leave bruises as he fucked in and out of Rhys, Rhys' clicking gone and replaced by loud moans and whimpers as his legs shook in Jack's hold. 

He wasn't surprised when he woke up with a hard-on, one hand moving down to adjust it so it wouldn't be overly obvious to poor Rhys. Though, when he felt a bare hip that definitely wasn't his own, he screamed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 🤔🤔 
> 
> hope you enjoyed this chapter! comments and kudos are appreciated.
> 
> come find me on twitter! @mascdevil


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